President’s Message

“Iam writing this message on the cusp of April with Easter this week. This is quite a watershed time for Dogs Queensland on a number of fronts.

It is great to see us returning to a “new normal” with the number of conformation shows and dog sports events starting to ramp up as evidenced in our Dog World magazine schedules and online.

COVID restrictions have relaxed to an extent, but it is a dynamic situation. For this reason, it is so important that any club officials direct any enquiries about COVID event requirements to the office and not liaise directly with government agencies. This results in efficiencies and a consistent approach with the office keeping a finger on the pulse with developments on this front.

Our Easter week brings a great array of shows in both Bundaberg and Ingham and down south as well. A big thank you to the organisers who have had an extra layer of organising and related stresses to deal with.

It is also a watershed week for the governance of Dogs Queensland. On Monday, 12 April 2021, we will have the last board meeting of the current Board. I once again thank the departing directors for the voluntary service they have provided over so many years. We look forward to seeing them make a continuing contribution to our dog world as I have no doubt they will.

When in 2012 we drafted the constitution of the Canine Control Council (Qld) Ltd, a Company limited by Guarantee, I was looking at 2 options with the construct of the 12 director board and the election of directors. The first option would have provided for 4 year terms with the entire board coming up for reelection every 4 years. The second and recommended option was to have 4 year terms but through transitional arrangements, to achieve an election cycle with 6 director positions coming up for election every 2 years. And that was the option taken. A key benefit of that approach has been governance continuity with half the board remaining at each election.

On my calculation, we have had 5 election cycles since 2012. What happens is that the successful director candidates are announced after polling closes in February and those directors “remain on ice” until the AGM at the end of March with a changeover of the Board at that time.

Under the Constitution, the AGM (happening on 14 April 2021) is followed immediately by the first meeting of the new Board when the Board elects the President and the Senior and Junior Vice Presidents.

We are always looking to improve our processes and this time we invited the new directors to meet with the continuing directors and Rob Harrison at a “Meet and Greet” session. This was also an opportunity to distribute a folder containing helpful resources to all present .

In my view was a positive thing to do. It was a great opportunity to go around the table and learn more about each individual. What became clear was that we all have very substantive backgrounds in our dog world in a wide range of disciplines and dog breeds. We share a great love of our dog world that goes back many, many decades. And I suppose that is what the good governance of our dog world is all about. Bringing a range of experiences and different backgrounds to the board table in the interest of reaching considered and well-founded decisions for Dogs Queensland.

I have no doubt that there will be continued challenges for our dog world over the next few years but I am optimistic that we are well positioned to effectively meet these challenges.

The last 2 years held the most amazing array of challenges both State wise and Federally and for our dog world too. We have had bushfires, a pandemic and most recently floods to contend with. And in biblical terms, even a locust plague occurred recently in Western Queensland. I thank the office and the Board for dealing with the unfolding of the challenges over this period and also thank you, the members, for your patience in dealing with the cancellation of events and the general impacts on our daily lives. The current rollout of COVID vaccines is such a welcome development.

I am confident the 2021 Board will similarly work effectively in the best interests of our dog world over the next few years.

I wish you all a very Happy Easter in the company of your families and dogs.

Ulla Greenwood, President ”